A New God

By Alex Liddell

In a place where existence and non-existence collide, a man sat on a glowing
throne of gold. His long white beard and flowing robes giving him the aura
of a cliched deity. Beside him, flanked on either side stood two angels.
Majestic, beautiful beings with expansive white wings, radiant halos and
brilliant sunswords clasped in their perfectly manicured hands. Their
bodies carved from reality itself. Around him flitted spirits of pure
energy, beings of love, light, hope, fear, hate, sorrow and vengeance. Worn
on their necks were crystals that reflected their energies out into the
universe. They resonated with their clear, melodious voices until they
shattered, taking the effervescent being with them.

The deity looked into the sky and marvelled at its changes. The ceiling of
the universe merging with itself, reds clashing with blues and whites and
yellows, frantically splashing into newly formed colours and patterns like a
crazed painter pouring his soul onto canvas. Lightning shot through the
palette of the sky, tearing through the painters works with electric
passion. Flinging sparks and terrible thunder across the deities realm. He
looked quizzically at the changes and shrugged, a glare coming to his eyes
as they erupted into blazing fire. The realm halted for a moment, frozen in
time and space as if anticipating a dramatic event. The universe held its
breath. Then the Symphony screamed for mercy as it twisted and ripped under
the deity's control, the blinding fire spewing out of his eyes tore into
reality, moulding and shaping it to his will. His realm's borders expanded
and flooded into the surrounding areas of the Deep Marches, the ethereals
there yelping in pain as their bodies muted and twisted into angelic forms.
Their homes devoured by the hungry fires of creation. When it was all over,
God surveyed his newly expanded territory and stared malevolently into the
planes of existence themselves, greedily eyeing the celestial plane. His
eyes once again flared up and on Earth a woman screamed as the skin on her
palms and feet burst, free flowing blood onto the kitchen floor, a tourist
in the Louvre held his breath in shock as the statue he was observing
started to bleed from the eyes, hands and feet. In Mecca the sky darkened
and thousands of people witnessed a spark of pure light strike a blind
Muslim Cleric right in the chest, to see him then get up and look upon the
Earth for the first time in his life.

In the Higher Heavens Uriel shot up beside the hand of God and stared open
mouthed at the events unfolding on Earth. He looked to God and spoke in a
harsh whisper. "I was right, Father. All this time and I was right."

God looked back at Uriel from every angle imaginable and then a few that
weren't; Uriel stared into God's form and instead of seeing the calm
knowledge of an omniscient entity, saw the fear and frustration of a small
child. Uriel felt his Word screech in the Symphony and he felt the pull to
return to the corporeal plane once again. Before, when he felt his Word
compel him to return, he always staved it off, knowing that God removed him
from duty for a reason, a purpose. Uriel looked to God again and saw that
his time had come, he saw God cry. His Word tore into his being, cutting
him deep, each tear of God ripped through Purity like lightning through
water. Uriel screamed in pain and horror and jumped into the air, furiously
beating his black wings against the Higher Heavens sky. He carried himself
through the Universe to the point where he ascended, his own tears mixing
with the burning rage of his Word and dropping into reality to create his
new followers. Upon reaching the glowing locus of the Seraphim Council,
Uriel was surrounded by 1000 warriors of all Choirs, each one crying the
rage and fury of Purity damaged. Uriel held up his sword and with a
thousand warriors all bathed in the radiance of his Word, descended to the
Council.

The Adventure

The world is in turmoil. Not just the Western world, but the Eastern as
well. Everyone knows the backstory. Terror has hit the heart of what we
thought was the most impenetrable fortress in the world. The result has
been a reaction of fear and hatred from both sides. On the one hand America
is outraged at the assault and vows vengeance in the name of God, on the
other, the Arab nation of Afghanistan is fearing a reaction from the US and
is swearing vengeance in the name of God. People the world over flood to
churches, cathedrals, mosques and temples to pray for the dead and for a
swift resolution to the conflict which is threatening to engulf the world in
chaos. Every Word in the Symphony is being served, from War to Flowers, The
Game to Gluttony someone stands to benefit and someone stands to lose. What
the Celestials don't know is that someone is benefiting much more than they
could imagine, and much more than they are.

God is an enigma to celestials in general; to a human the real God is
unimaginable... but the God that they create in their own heads is very
real and they understand Him perfectly. His will is ultimate, His goals
defined by the humans who "worship" Him and His mood is totally volatile.
The dreams of a billion humans channelling their thoughts, fears, hopes and
hates to Him as God, to Him as Allah.... makes him very, very powerful and
very, very dangerous.

In other terms, in the Deep Marches where reality and emptiness collide a
new ethereal has been born. He didn't just come down in the last shower, he
has been brewing in the minds of the faithful for centuries, evolving and
changing, growing and learning. Given the current surge of prayer he has
burst out of his shell and has begun to create "Heaven" as his mind sees it,
influenced by the written (and corrupted) religions of the world. He is
shaping the Deep Marches into a pseudo Celestial Plane; the more and more he
changes The Marches the more he sets his section apart from the rest of the
Plane. In essence he is cutting himself off from his source of power, but
he doesn't know that and the celestials don't know that. However, what
happens when he totally creates his new plane is anyone's guess....

The world starts to experience Biblical events. Not all pointing to the
book of Revelations but some are related to it. A feeder river to the
Amazon starts to boil for an hour or so, people in quaint little Lithuanian
villages start experiencing stigmata, statues begin to bleed, Muslims
experience visions of Muhammad's ascension; nothing really Earth shaking
depending on how long it takes the celestials to figure out what is going
on and put a stop to it. If they take too long (depends on how long the GM
determines) then things like seas boil and the sky rains down brimstone (or
whatever). The cool part is that this adventure can be played from ANY
angle. As an angel trying to stop this ethereal God from becoming too
powerful and threatening the World. As a Demon trying to do the same thing
and find a way to screwing over Heaven at the same time, or as an ethereal
whose existence is in jeopardy. If you are really weird then you can run it
as an Angel of "God" flavoured with Islamic/Christian atonements and
attitudes.

Clues lead the PCs to the Truth. Malakim of Yves report odd sounding
disturbances in the areas of the "divine" events. These disturbances are
"God" intruding on the corporeal plane. Sometimes an "Angel" will pop up
and give someone a message in a very Biblical manner leaving the person
stressed and possibly even damaged. A confrontation with one of these
"Angels" should be very climactic. They are infused with belief and can
manifest some strange powers. Once the PCs come up with the idea that
there is a "God" in the Marches who is doing all of this, Dominic spits the
dummy and throws his toys out of his pram. He screams heresy and calls a
council meeting to resolve the issue. What happens from here is up to the
GM to craft. Any number of outcomes is available including Uriel's return
from the Higher Heavens. The trick is not to let the PCs feel as though
they are being led around by the Archangels.

Hell has varying views on the situation. PC investigations will lead them
to much the same conclusion as above. Then it depends on the Superiors.
Again, this is mutable to how the GM portrays various Superiors. Alliances
with Heaven, sneak attacks on unguarded Heavenly strongholds, the capture
and experimentation of an "Angel," even alliances with "God" Himself are
possible.

If they invade the Marches then it really depended on how long it has taken
and how the GM is treating time. They could find a brand new plane with a
seriously weakened "God" at the centre and killing him should not be a
problem. They could find a brand new plane and a very very powerful entity
there that rivals their Archangels in power. They might show up as he is
forming the plane, just in time to help some ethereals escape the fires.